There are people out there who keep an eye on foxes and also medicated them for injuries and mange. I have no problem with those people.
The problem comes with over feeding and habituation. If a fox is given food and you see it take it away and bury it then that is excess food.
Not wanted.
Last month it hit home how over fed foxes are when people on various Bristol groups noted that they found chicken eggs buried in planters, shrubberies and so on. They could not identify the bones but I am suspecting chicken bones -I have found them in my garden and I never fed chicken eggs or chicken drum sticks to foxes. I have even found larger bones from roasts near my garden (I'm a vegetarian since 1983 so no meat in my house).
Foxes that are over fed create a problem. They would naturally kill rats and mice which is a far better form of pest control than the dangerous poisons used by local authorities. Rodents and beetles, moths, etc ARE natural fox food. They are meant to look slim and not chubby (that in itself can be an indicator of previously unheard of diseases in foxes starting to occur).
When I was treating the local foxes, and when they had two cubs, I put out two cut up LIGHTLY jammed sandwiches and they helped themselves to the cat food put out for hedgehogs as well as dry cat food. Even two adults with two cubs did not clear up the food. The dry cat food was rarely touched. Often, the wet cat food put out for the hogs was still left over after it had eaten. These are now hungry foxes and they used to be very good at keeping down rats.
Daily feeding with sugared jam doughnuts and other highly sugared products is not good. It should be an occasional treat because I cannot see feeders paying for the diabetic medication, running twice daily blood checks and injecting a wild fox with insulin when it gets diabetes. I've had to do that with cats and it is not easy so a wild fox...?
Cut back on food and it will save you money, it will allow the fox to suppliment the wild food it gets and being a wild canid it MUST keep all of its hunting instincts active.
I have read what people have posted on fox groups; they have fed a fox twice daily for a year but now are moving -will the fox be okay?
Or "I'm going away for a year and worry about who will feed my foxes".
Firstly, they are NO ONE'S foxes:they are wild canids. If you want a pet canid go to an animal rescue and buy a dog.
Secondly, it shows irresponsibility beyond belief. Oh, you are moving house and going to another part of the country -and you hope your pet dog youleft at the old place will be fed?
I noted several such posts got comments that neighbours should be asked to feed the foxes -that is as outrageous a suggestion as are the negative comments towards neighbours who have apparently said "no". I will buy a dog BUT you people are going to have to feed it, okay? No.
We have had incidents where people have turned around in their kitchens to find a fox (or two foxes) looking up at them. They panic and if they report this to the RSPCA or local authority you have two "pest foxes" and the pest controller will be smiling all the way to the bank -habituated foxes are "easy to shoot" and these people love the work as it pays highly.
A person who moved into a house asked a feeder to stop as the foxes were urinating and defecating on his doorstep. Theresponbse to this on one fox group was to "Tell him to **** off you've been there longer than him!" No. A person spends many thousands on a new home and does not expect fox urine and fecal matter to be deposited each night at their doorways. They will report it to the council and..."pest foxes" help pay for the pest controllers next holiday.
Do what other people do if you insiste on feedin a fox -do it away from your garden because unless you have pro fox neighbours there is going to be trouble.
Feed foxes sensibly. Think about what you are feeding them and WHERE you are feeding them.
Habituation is where you get a wild animal used to humans and this is never a good thing because humans just have no idea how to react to wild animals and do not understand their behaviour -swishing a tail does not necessarily mean they are say "Hello!" There is example after example of how bad this is for the wild animal -"All humans are nice" is NOT something you want them to think.
If people moving away after encouraging foxes to come to the house for food is not bad enough there is one act that should really be made a criminal offence against wildlife: deliberatly enticing foxes into your homes.
There is video after video of people enticing foxes to get closer to them. But then they HAVE to get them to take food from their hand. Then that is not good enough. Food is used to lure foxes to kitchen or patio doors and then just inside the house and finally to encourage them into the living room. Then people asked how they could get fox cubs nearer to them so they can pick them up "for a cuddle"!
- I have tried to explain repeatedly that hand feeding is NOT a good idea.
- I have repeatedly explained that foxes must NOT be encouraged into the home.
- I have stated that under no circumstances should anyone attempt to grab and try to "cuddle" a fox cub -the mother will likely bite to defend its cub or even reject the cub.
This is all a total disrespect of the wild animal.
Again: BUY A DOMESTIC DOG.
Someone doesn't like foxes and calls in pest control.
"Here you are, boy, lovely jam doughnut. Come to daddy"
BANG!
Dead fox.
Dead vixen and cubs.
Paid by the dead fox the pest controller doesn't give a damn and if they have a mate who knows someone who'll pay a few quid for fox cubs for, uh, 'sport' purposes do you think they care?
Scream and shout as much as you want but the council decides and pays the pest controller and habituating has made the job so much easier for them.
DO NOT EVER encourage foxes into the home.
I've spent over 40 years specialising in foxes and I have never seen them being put in so much danger by people who claim to "love" them. A step-by-step guide on how to encourage foxes into the house can be found on most fox groups and the worst part of it is these people seem to be doing this for social media likes -one person bomarded every fox and local wildlife group with his fox photos (no reason just wanted everyone to see his photos) and was outraged that Face Book blocked him for a while as a spammer. He was.
Feed foxes very carefully and watch what you feed them -keep a note of what you feed every day and then look at the list after a couple weeks (one woman told me that she realised the wild fox was eating better than her kids....then neighbours started finding food caches in their gardens).
Just be sensible because we are fast approaching a point where foxes will be labelled "urban pests" and you will be unable to do a thing about their snaring, poisoning or shooting.
I. AM. NOT. JOKING.
Foxes are currently given very little regard as it is and once the wheel is set in motion we will see a couple vans full of dead foxes in most towns and cities each night until.....
No more foxes.
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